


Xena

by sierraraeck



Series: Aundreya Chambers [19]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Angst, Aundreya Chambers, Behavioral Analysis Unit (Criminal Minds), Criminal Minds Family, Gen, Major Original Character(s), Minor Original Character(s), Original Character(s), POV Original Female Character, Slow Burn, The BAU Team as Family (Criminal Minds)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:00:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29188953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sierraraeck/pseuds/sierraraeck
Summary: Series Summary: This is a series following Aundreya Chambers and her experience with the BAU, Spencer, and trying to navigate the FBI as a high-profile criminal. And things get very messy.Chapter Summary: Her attempt to fix things leads Aundreya directly to one of her greatest enemies, and to some of her greatest friends. Story nineteen.
Relationships: The BAU Team/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Aundreya Chambers [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2130924





	Xena

**Author's Note:**

> I know this one is a little Aundreya-centric, but we will get back to the whole squad in a moment. Also, if this means something to you, I want you to think Dauntless from Divergent as far as building and overall vibe.

I got a lead.

I was coming up on the end of month five of being on the run, and I finally had what I needed to put the final nail in the coffin. A location and leverage. But I wasn’t going to be able to do it alone. 

“Deen?” I confirmed before he could even say anything.

“Alion-”

“Shh!” I hushed. I didn’t want my name on any cellular transcript or recordings. You could never be too sure. “Are they ready?”

“Yes,” he answered without hesitation. I could hear how giddy he sounded when he asked, “Now?”

“Now.”

* * *

I’d been away from my ring for far too long. They’d been in good hands with Deen, for sure, but I was itching to get back to them. I’d wanted to for so long, but it wouldn’t benefit anyone. If anything, I’d draw attention to us again, and we’d have to go on a temporary hiatus until things cooled down. And that was bad for business. But I guess so was having your leader away, not like that was the primary reason I was returning. Added bonus, maybe. 

I showed up to the bookstore I’d come to adore, sneaking in the back door after dark. I moved soundlessly towards the “Employees Only: Storage” door in the back that opened up into a massive storage unit that we used for training. Normally, meetings are held in the back of a club and bar on the other side of town, but I wanted to make sure this was more discreet and unexpected. 

The whole room was pitch black, and besides the one emergency light that faintly glowed above the center mat, I couldn’t see anything. I cautiously approached the light which was over 50 feet away, and the moment I landed right under it, the rest of the lights in the warehouse rapidly turned on. I was blinded for a moment but quickly adjusted, scanning the massive room around me. There were multiple stories in the warehouse, but they all opened up to overlook the first floor, where I was currently standing. Lining the walls and all of the walkways on the four stories up were filled with all of the members of my ring. All just standing there, in dead silence, staring at me. And it made me feel right at home.

I spread my arms out wide and did the most dramatic bow I could. When I looked up, I saw a couple faces smiling, and announced, “I’m back.”

Then all 500 or so of them started cheering. They were clapping and hooting and smiling, and I was laughing and basking in the feeling. Deen and his two new right hands approached me, dramatically clapping.

“Well, well, look who it is,” Deen said, shaking his head.

“Aww, did someone get too comfy on my throne?” I playfully sneered.

“I wouldn’t dare. You know I can do the whole ‘leader’ thing-”

“But it’s just not for you,” I finished, “Trust me, I know.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” he arched an eyebrow.

“Speaking as the one coming from prison, I don’t think I’m qualified to judge,” I winked. 

“As someone who just escaped a supermax, I think that gives you more than enough qualification,” he said. He opened his arms and I rolled my eyes with a smile on my face as he pulled me into his infamous bear hug. When he let me go he asked, “You remember Mateo and Niko?”

“The twins?” I asked, looking over at the two of them, “Of course I do!” They were both tall, like 6’4” and they looked like two of the most ethereal people you could imagine. They had rich umber skin, shoulder length corkscrew coils, and brilliant smiles. Nearly everything about them was identical except for their eyes. Niko had almond shaped, black eyes, but Mateo had round eyes, one the same deep brown like his brother, the other a piercing ocean blue. “How could I forget them.”

“Well, they are my new right hands since…” Deen trailed off. _Since Corbyn._

“Right, right,” I quickly filled in. They were both a couple years younger than me, 17 at the time they joined. No one knew anything about their background or why they were joining a ring, and they were vastly underestimated. Deen questioned what they could do for us since they weren’t an ‘expert’ in anything, but the first day of training changed that. They were both amazing fighters. They kicked everyone’s ass their age, and the two ages above them. After a week, they were training with everyone at the top, including me. Throughout that time, I got to know the twins very well, and Mateo and I became close. Like, _close._ He finally kissed me the night I got sent to prison, before everything went down. Of course, I was in there for four years, then came to camp out at the ring once I got out for a little while before going off to the FBI, so we hadn’t really talked about it or revisited it at all. Not like I was going to bring it up. We were great friends before that, and I didn’t really have time to deal with figuring that out. 

I extended my hand to Niko, “It’s great to see you both again. How have things been with this guy,” I joked.

Niko accepted my handshake and replied with a smirk, “Oh you know, the usual bullshit. Him pushing us around, doing his dirty work and such.”

“Oh is he now?” I raised an eyebrow at Deen.

“Don’t look at me!” he said, eyes getting wider, “I know I’m a handsome guy, but these two just seem to get more done as the faces of our deals. I still can’t figure out why…”

I snorted, “Yeah, me neither.” Both boys suppressed a smile. I extended my hand out to Mateo, and before I knew it, I was on the ground. Instead of shaking it, he flipped me. 

“Damn, okay,” I said, resting on my elbows, “Hello to you, too.”

“You weren’t prepared,” he smirked down at me. _Wanna bet?_

I hooked my feet around his legs, reached up to grab his arm, and yanked him down to the right side of me. I moved one leg across his body, while the other still hooked the leg closest me, keeping it in place. I reached down with both hands and tugged lightly on that leg. “Snap! I just broke your leg.”

“Oh, sure. I wonder if you still got it in you,” he challenged. In response, I pulled harder, almost to the point of dislocation and he suppressed a wince. I stretched it just a bit farther for my own satisfaction, and he gave me what I wanted: three fast taps on the mat. An eruption of cheers echoed around us, and I almost forgot we still had an audience. 

With that ego boost, I held him in that position and wondered, “Anything else you’d like to add?”

“No,” he said, releasing a sigh when I finally let him go. I got up, offering him a hand, which I was surprised he took. 

I turned toward the rest of the warehouse and announced, “Thank you all for being here, and an enthusiastic, _typical_ ,” I shot Mateo a look, “welcome. We are going to discuss a few final logistics, then present you with the necessities. You are dismissed.” On cue, the lines of people broke up and started moving around. The four of us walked toward a small table in a more secluded corner office.

“Congratulations, brother,” Niko mused as we entered the room, “You’ve waited three years to finally beat her, and you failed.”

“Shut up,” Mateo hissed.

I had to laugh, “You always were one of the most competitive people I’d ever met. Good to see that some things never change. Including which one of us is better,” I winked.

Mateo huffed, “Yeah, and which one of us is still a bitch.”

“Ow, watch it,” I replied, “or maybe I’ll decide to really teach you something.”

“Oh I’m counting on it,” he smirked. 

I mirrored the look but got back to business, “So are you all caught up on what’s happening?”

“Yeah, they know,” Deen spoke for the first time in a while, “Of course, they saw you when you came back for a little bit after the first prison break, and I filled them in on your deal with Archer. They know you’ve changed your mind about going through with it, and that Xena and DeLeon are back, and that you plan on killing them, framing Archer, _and_ getting out alive without cuffs on.”

“That’s plan A at least,” I raised my eyebrows. I heard the door to the office push open, and spun around to see who it was.

“So what’s plan B?” a thin girl with long, shiny black hair questioned as she entered the room. I looked over at Deen for an explanation.

“She’s great with strategy and logistical planning,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

“She’s new,” Niko jumped in. I slowly nodded.

She extended her hand to me with an introduction. “Roman.”

“Right,” I shook her hand, with a confused look on my face. I knew her. We’d met. Actually, she, Sydney, and I were very tight a long time ago. Once I took over the gang, she and I had a falling out. It was like she just disappeared, and she hated me for starting the ring and getting careless. She didn’t even check on Sydney’s family when she died. Needless to say, I knew who she was, and she knew who I was, so why wasn’t she acting like it? And last time I checked, she actually wasn’t that good at planning, granted I’d been away for a while, but can things change that drastically?

“There are a variety of things that can go wrong and too many variables, that’s why we are going to have to use as many top people as possible to control some of them,” I started. I didn’t really have time to figure out Roman, either.

“Right, like your team, Z and D, Archer, and the meeting place,” Roman graciously pointed out.

I tried to brush her off, “Exactly. Since I found Xena, I already sent her a message about meeting me, and I told her to come alone, but I’ll need someone to keep watch in case DeLeon shows up.”

“What did you tell her you had?” Deen asked.

“The one thing she can’t resist is information on her grandfather and why things ended the way they did. In my message, I let her know that I’d tell her everything I knew, and give her a letter he left for her that night.”

“Is that true?” Deen questioned.

I shrugged, “Mostly.”

“So what are the specifics?” Roman asked.

“I told her to meet me in the alley next to the old gym where I met her. My plan is to go inside so that there can be at least one or two other people in there for backup in case DeLeon shows up, and another outside for the same reason. I would then need people to track Archer and the members of the BAU and report back to Deen,” I offered.

“No way. I’m going to be there,” Deen insisted.

“No. You’ve been able to handle all of this organizational stuff for so long and you’re good at it. They need someone they trust to report back to, and I need someone I trust to keep track of all of the information,” I gave him a stern look, “That’s you.”

“Okay…” Roman looked deep in thought, “And how is he going to get the information to you? And what if one of our people gets caught by the FBI? I think they’ll be pretty good at recognizing if someone is following them.”

“Well logically-” I was cut off.

“You’re never logical,” Roman stated.

“Oh, so you do remember who I am,” I spat.

“How could I not?” she rushed on, dropping a stack of paper on the table with a thud, “Look, logically that is a terrible idea and never gonna work. Even in theory that doesn’t make sense. There are too many loose ends.”

“When have I ever worked logically? I’ve never worked logically and look how that’s worked out for me?” I thought for a moment and followed with, “Actually, that’s a bad example. What I’m trying to say is that what I’ve done has always gotten me out of situations like this. That’s all that matters, and I trust our people to be able to pull this off. Do you not?” I put both hands on the table and pushed aside a chair in my way with my feet, the legs screeching across the floor.

We stared each other down while the three boys exchanged looks. Mateo put his hands up in a surrender and slowly backed toward the door in a dramatic way. “Well while you two clamor around-”

“Hold up. I do not _clamor,_ ” I said with air quotes. Mateo just shrugged. “You do remember I am in charge, right? Like, I’m your leader and boss?”

Mateo stopped in his tracks and gave me a small smile, “Yeah, but, you’re a cool ring leader.” 

I deadpanned and then turned to Deen and Niko, who just stood there. Niko acted like he didn’t care and Deen was clearly enjoying himself. “You’re all fired.”

“What? Come on! What did we do?” Mateo tried to act all innocent.

“My reputation of being terrifying and untouchable cannot be tainted by you running around calling me cool!” I let my hands fall to my thighs with a slap.

“Well can’t you be terrifying, untouchable, _and_ cool?” Mateo asked with a sheepish smile. I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. 

I glanced over at Deen, who now had a shit-eating grin across his face. “I mean, you are a cool ring leader.” 

The corners of my mouth twitched up slightly as I agreed, “I am pretty cool, aren’t I?” I got collective nods around the room, except for Roman who looked like she’d rather die. “Okay, can we _please_ refocus on the task at hand? And, at least for the next couple days, pretend like you actually are terrifying and untouchable like the rest of the world thinks?”

“Sure, I think we can manage that,” Mateo said, all too giddy as he practically bounced back over to the table. Not a good start.

“Jesus Christ. You get together the most dangerous, elite criminals the nation has ever seen and they act like eager teenagers who just discovered porn for the first time. This is why we never get anything done. Anyways-” 

“How _did_ we ever get anything done?” Roman asked, and it was the first time her face looked like it had an emotion besides analysis. Kinda reminded me of Hotch.

“You were less cool,” Mateo chimed in. I eyeballed him. “What, am I wrong?”

“Your face is about to be,” I raised my eyebrows.

For the next two hours, we kept going over variations of the plans and solidifying ways we could get out of them. Actually, it mainly consisted of me throwing out ideas, Roman rejecting them, and Deen and Niko occasionally finding ways to get over minor errors with each. Mateo was blissfully unhelpful as usual. Granted, he was the kinda guy that threw out a dumb idea as a joke, and having it actually be something we could use.

“And then we kill them,” I completed, satisfied with our work.

“Wow, Alionth, you really are brutal. I mean, does every plan have to end with death? Haven’t you ever heard ‘kill em with kindness’?” Mateo sarcastically asked, fluttering his eyes at me.

“Yeah, but just outright killing them is so much faster,” I gave him a wicked smile.

“Remind me why we all missed her again?”

I reached out to whack him over the head, “Remind me why I wanted to come back and work with him?”

“You know you love me.” Mateo flashed me that brilliant smile that crinkled his two different colored eyes. We were lucky that he kept the mood positive, even when he was more of a distraction than anything. But his stupid pretty face, and his identical brother’s, was bringing in more clients than ever, so what’re you gonna do?

“Mateo, I will kick you in the back,” I remarked.

“I always knew you liked it rough,” he jeered. I enjoyed our banter, but I was not going to let him make that comment without repercussions. Plus, I like our ‘physical banter’ as well, if you could even call it that. In one move, I swept him off his feet, flipped him over my hip, and he landed with a thud.

“That I do,” I laughed. But before I knew it, I was back on the ground with his legs tangled in mine. He was hovering over me before I could lock him in place and flipped us back over, so I was on top. I pinned him down and I felt him struggle against me for a moment before relenting. I was strong, don’t get me wrong, but he had at least six inches on me along with a healthy amount of muscle mass. He was stronger, and if he really wanted to, could’ve probably gotten out of my grasp, but he didn’t. He let me pin him. “You’ve gotten better. But I don’t ever want to see you give up again.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he whispered. I realized we were still in a very precarious position, me sitting on top of him with his hands pinned over his head, and I quickly stood up. 

“Mateo, you need to stop,” Niko said, sending him a look only they could understand. They passed eyes for a few seconds, an entire indecipherable conversation no one else was privy to, before Roman cleared her throat. Niko apologized, “Right, yeah.”

We got back to work and finally had a plan fully put together. “This is going to work,” I said, almost astonished.

“I think you’re right,” Roman agreed. _Finally_.

“I just need you all to remember that you are also protecting them.”

“You keep saying that, but why should we care about them so much?” Mateo asked me. Deen hit him in the arm. “Sorry.” But his voice was anything but apologetic.

“Just do this for me please,” I pleaded, without trying to sound as desperate as I was.

“Yes of course,” Niko nodded. He was always so level-headed and loyal. Never pushed. Or at least not like his brother.

“And while I’m happy that everyone is here, not everyone can be involved in this. It’s delicate and needs to be handled with absolute perfection and I know not everyone is capable of that,” I acknowledged.

“We know,” it was Deen this time.

“And if it comes to it, you are protecting them first,” I proceeded. I held my breath, waiting for a reaction.

Then I got the one I was expecting. “What? We aren’t going to do that!” Mateo sounded betrayed.

As calmly as I could, I looked him straight in the eyes and commanded, “Yes you are.”

“No, no way! You are our _leader._ All these people need you,” he said, shaking his head.

“And the rest of the country needs them.”

“This isn’t fair and it doesn’t make sense. I am not going to go along with this,” Mateo pushed away from the table and headed toward the door. I’d call him childish, but I knew his reaction came from a good place, and I couldn’t be mad at him for that.

I quickly followed, calling, “Yes you are.”

As he opened the door, I slammed it shut again, preventing him from leaving. He grabbed me by both of my shoulders and held me against the door, the knob digging into my back.

His eyes were wide and frenzied when he hissed, “No.”

“Yes,” I bit, venom on my voice. He flinched back slightly, and I reached up, hooking my hand behind his neck. I pulled him to me and whispered in his ear, “Please don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

“Or what?”

“You know what.”

“You wouldn’t,” I felt him shake his head, “Not to me. Not to us.”

“I’m telling you Mateo. I don’t want to. It’d hurt me as much as it’d hurt you, but I would. That’s how important this is to me.” Despite my best efforts, my voice cracked. “I need you … and as a part of this operation.”

I could tell he noticed the emotion in my voice by the way he pulled back, looking me in the eyes, his much softer now. “Okay.”

“Thank you,” I released him from my grip, and he let me off the door. I turned my attention back to the group, “We have to make sure not to underestimate Z and D because there’s two of them and they are dangerous, especially together, so we have to be careful. There are plenty of things that can go wrong, and if we have to, we kill them. No matter what.”

* * *

Everyone was in position.

Niko and one of the next in line, JT, were already inside as my back up. Deen had been giving us updates through ear pieces, and Roman, along with a team of spies and trackers, was waiting outside of FBI headquarters for the jet to land. I was hopeful that we’d be done before they got back. Mateo was waiting outside of the building, watching the entrances. I didn’t want him inside, for fear he’d be too impulsive, plus he’d do a good job up against DeLeon if he happened to show up. I was waiting with him, both of us leaning up against the brick behind us waiting to get the call that Xena had shown up and it was time for me to go in.

“Would you come back?”

It was out of the blue, and I wasn’t sure what he was referencing. “What?”

“Would you come back?” he repeated. “After this is all over. Xena and DeLeon taken care of, the FBI safe, you and me and the rest of the team safe. Would you come back to us?”

I knew the other question hanging in the balance so I didn’t want to answer. _Would you come back to me?_

“I don’t know,” I replied, “I haven’t gotten that far.”

“Yes you have,” he said, finally glancing over at me, “You plan way too far ahead to not have an answer to that. Don’t lie to me.”

“Mateo, I-”

“Sounds like a no, then,” he bitterly threw at me, turning away.

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to. What do you expect us to do without you?”

“I didn’t say I was leaving,” I tried to circle back.

“Is there someone else?” he asked. The question shocked me. He wasn’t usually like this, but I guess a lot had changed since the last time I saw him.

“Uh, I mean, no.”

“Convincing,” he pressed his lips together. 

_Very nice, Aundreya. Just keep wrecking your relationships. It’s working really well for you._

I sighed, then stepped in front of him, making him look up at me. “There is no one else.”

It was barely a whisper when he asked, “An agent? Really?”

“Exactly,” I pointed out. “That’s why it doesn’t matter. It’s never going to work, so no. No one else.”

“Of course it matters, Alionth.” And he was right. It did matter, I just wanted it not to.

“No, it doesn’t,” I pleaded. “I haven’t seen you in three years, and yes, I made connections or whatever while I was away, but that’s all they were. Connections to get to the end goal, like I told you before I left. I was in a dark space for a while and one of them helped me out and that was it. End of connection. Plus, they’ve got someone, so like I told you earlier, it doesn’t matter. Mateo, I still lo-”

He cut me off, smashing his lips into mine. He pulled me closer and I kissed him harder, hands moving to his hair. 

“She’s here,” Niko’s voice whispered in both our ears. He pulled away, drawing another small sigh from my lips as I looked into his eyes. It was almost like they represented the two different sides of him. Maybe the two different sides of me.

Mateo brushed his thumb over my jaw and softly said, “Don’t say that until you mean it.” 

All I could do was nod and turn toward the door. “Be safe.”

“You too,” and then the room enveloped me in darkness.

There were a couple of dim, flickering lights that buzzed when the light switch was on, and I saw the outline of a woman about 30 paces from me.

“You know, it’s rude to keep your clients waiting,” her sing-songy voice rang across the room. “It’s a wonder you still have some coming to you.”

“Well, it’s also rude to frame someone for murder, so I guess we’re even,” I deadpanned. I heard her steps echo through the room as she approached me. I decided to meet her in the middle so I could see her better. No need to be surprised if I could help it. 

When she entered the light, I saw that she had her long, wavy blonde hair back in a slick ponytail, and was wearing a long black trench coat with combat boots. Her hands were in her pockets.

“Still sour about that?”

“Still sour about the gang?” I fired back. It landed, like I knew it would. If I had to guess, she spent most days trying to push those thoughts back down. “I mean, that’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”

“If you want to phrase it that way, sure,” she plastered on a fake smile. 

“Open your jacket,” I commanded.

“Excuse me?” she sounded offended, but I just stared at her. She relented with a sigh and opened it. There were two guns and an entire knife set in there.

“On the ground.” She dropped all three on the cement in between us. “And your boots.”

“So you haven’t forgotten _everything_ ,” she sneered, removing both of her boots. She flipped them upside down and shook, but nothing fell out.

“I haven’t forgotten _anything_.” I motioned for her to hand me her shoes. When she did, I ran my hand through both of them, finding a small blade taped to the sole. “Clever, but that has to be uncomfortable to walk on.” I tossed it in the center with the rest of her stuff.

“I’ll take the liberty on this one,” Xena said, ignoring me, turning both of her pockets inside out. “Your turn.”

I did a spin, showing her I had no pockets and I was wearing a short sleeved shirt with no place to hide things. Even though I was wearing tennis shoes, she still wanted me to empty them, so I did anyway. 

“Well, now that that’s over,” I huffed, putting my shoes back on, “Why don’t we get to why you’re really here.” I walked over to a dark corner of the room where I’d been storing her grandfather’s ‘letter.’ I snatched it off a small table and walked back over to her. She reached for it, but I pulled it away before she could grab it. 

“What now?”

“So you and DeLeon are working together?” I asked.

“How does that have anything to do with you and I’s business?”

It was a valid question, but she already knew the answer. “Xena, I know you and DeLeon have been behind everything. You’re working together and now you’ve been talking with Agent Archer.”

“And?”

“And, you know how things with DeLeon end. He will take over any agenda you have. Whatever you want, you won’t get, because we both know DeLeon is a lying, impulsive, control freak. It’s only a matter of time before you get into an argument, and I don’t think that will end well for you,” I aimed to rattle her, but she seemed pretty stable.

“Who’s to say it won’t end well for _him_?”

“You. You literally told me that the first time I met him. ‘Be careful with that one, Aundreya. He has an unfortunate habit of always getting what he wants. No matter what.’ And you know what, you were right. I can attest to that,” I said, my voice getting quieter at the end.

“This is different,” she insisted.

“You can try to fool yourself, but you can’t fool me. I know things aren’t going well. Your progress has slowed down, and I’d guess it’s because you’re trying to plan things out, and he’s not listening to you.”

Xena shook her head. “You’re wrong.”

“What’s keeping you with him? You know you could just let him self destruct and come work with someone who actually thinks like you. Who could actually help you get stuff done,” I offered.

She immediately caught my drift, “Really? You want _me_ to come work with _you_?”

I nodded.

“Why in the hell would I do that? You took everything from me! You took my position, my grandfather, my gang, even my love-”

“Your love?” _Is she seriously saying that DeLeon is her ‘love?’_

“Yes! You were the shiny new toy to play with and I was old news. It seemed like anything I was good at and loved, you were better at and took from me. You took my _entire home_ , Aundreya, and fucking Rafael let you! There’s no coming back from that! There’s no forgiveness in order,” she shouted, then took a deep breath, and finished with, “Let alone a partnership.”

“Xena, you don’t understand. Your grandfather did those things because he wanted to keep you safe.”

“His name is Rafael, and I doubt that,” she snapped.

“I have his letter, his dying words to you. He wasn’t thinking of me, or DeLeon, or the gang in his last moments. He was thinking of you. That tells you something,” I softened my voice, and cautiously took a step toward her. If I could sway her to work with us, we might actually have a chance of taking down both Archer and DeLeon, _and_ get out alive. If not…

“That he had regrets? Yeah, does me a lot of good now,” she hissed. 

“But it might help ease some of those thoughts that have been nagging at you for years, give you some sort of closure. It might help you put it all aside and move on. Don’t you want that?” I asked. Her lack of response was enough for me to continue, “Come back to headquarters with me.”

“So you can ambush me? No thanks.”

“Come on. We can sit down and read this letter together. Plus, I have the little box he left it in with a variety of other stuff in it,” I offered. 

“Why would you have held onto it this long?” her voice was incredulous and her face matched it.

“He was my mentor and at the time, my best friend’s family,” I gave her a pointed look, “And I know I don’t seem like it, but sometimes, I can be sentimental.” _And the future possibility of leverage isn’t bad either._

I cautiously turned to head toward the door, my back facing her. Normally I would have faced her head on the entire way there, but I wanted to see if, and how quickly, she’d betray me. I heard a very soft scraping sound on the concrete, which could only mean one thing. I whipped around and caught her raised wrist, knife in hand. 

“Wrong choice,” I muttered. I tweaked her wrist, causing her to drop the knife with a clatter, and I kicked her back the way she came. For the few moments she was winded, I looked upward toward the rafters and shook my head. I hoped Niko and JT understood that I didn’t need their help just yet. I was hoping to deal with her all on my own. 

I sauntered toward her and leaned down in her face, wrapping a hand around her throat. Before I could do anything else though, she grabbed one of the guns behind her and hit me in the forehead with the butt. I stumbled back and placed my hand over the spot she hit, blood already streaming down the side of my face. 

Bringing nothing to a gun fight hadn’t really been my intention, so I was just going to have to improvise. Instead of waiting around for her to shoot me, which she would, I rushed toward her as she attempted to get to her feet. I kicked her knee in with the heel of my foot, then stepped on her hand that held the gun. She held on, so I had no choice but to reach down and try to take it from her grasp. In the process, it went off, echoing through the walls with ear splitting volume. I didn’t know where it hit, and I didn’t really care as long as it wasn’t me or my boys. I finally yanked it from her hand and threw it across the room. 

Xena scrambled to reach the pile of weapons we’d created earlier, but I lunged over her to get there first. I was about to grab hold of the second gun when she grabbed me by the ankles and pulled me back. I started thrashing, kicking my feet in whatever direction, hoping to hit her somewhere that would hurt. I heard her moan, so something worked, but I didn’t take the time to figure out what did. I reached for the other gun and threw it in the same direction as the first one. When it came down to it, I could beat Xena in a knife fight. Guns were too unpredictable. 

In a flash, I saw a figure land in the darkness of the corner, pick up both guns, and disappear again. _God I love them._

I grabbed the second largest knife, and the closest one to me, refocusing my attention on Xena. I turned on my back for a better angle, but when I did, she was on top of me. She grabbed hold of my wrist and brought the knife to my throat, barely grazing it. I brought my other hand up to try and force the blade back her way. She brought her knees down with all of her body weight on my chest, over and over and over again, beating the breath out of me, and in turn, forcing the blade closer to my throat.

“How does it feel?” she bit through clenched teeth. “How does it feel to know that you’re going to lose to me?”

I brought my knee up between her legs, and struck her across the face. I shoved the blade upward, hearing a crack as blood rushed down her nose, dripping onto my cheek. I used the strength I had left to force her on her back, effectively switching our positions. 

“It feels great,” I growled, taking back control over the knife. I brought it down across her shoulder, a screech escaping her lips. I stood up and kicked her in the side before opening a gash across her abdomen. Blood was spilling onto the floor, and I moved toward the pile of knives to collect them before turning back to her. When I did, she had a stained piece of paper in her hands. 

_The letter. I must’ve dropped it during the fight._

I opened my mouth to make a comment about it, but instead got cut off by hysterical laughter. In her dying moments, Xena was laughing like a wild hyena. “Of course. That bastard would never. I should have known,” she croaked out between broken breaths.

The letter was empty, just a blank sheet of paper I’d shoved in an envelope. I never actually planned on giving it to her, at least, not that one, and honestly didn’t even believe our encounter would end any differently than it had. “The real one is back at the ring,” I nonchalantly informed her. 

“It doesn’t exist,” she shook her head profusely. 

“I guess we’ll never know.” I did, in fact, have a letter with writing on it back at headquarters in the off chance she agreed to help me. It was fake, I’d written it myself, but had she come back, she would have never known the difference. 

I was about to leave her for dead when she called out, “You were right.”

“What?” I was so shocked by the words coming out of her mouth, that I walked over to make sure they actually were hers.

“The only reason I was looking into you, using Corbyn, was to get answers about Rafael and you. And why you were working with the same FBI team that closed in on the gang. _Your_ gang. I wanted all the info I could get so I could hurt you, like you hurt me,” she finished with a chuckle, but immediately clutched her side, coughing.

“Why are you telling me this?” My voice was cold and demanding.

“To let you know that my intentions seem innocent compared to DeLeon’s.” The craze in her eyes was enough to make me take her seriously. “When he finds out that I’m dead, he’s gonna come for you.”

I didn’t let her rickety breaths and threatening words shake me. I wanted her last memory to be of her ultimate enemy standing over her, so I composed myself before leaning down to her ear and whispering, “I hope so.” I pulled away to see her wicked smile, one that you’d only see in horror movies or nightmares. My voice sounded chilling, even to me, as I mirrored her smile, announcing, “This is for Sydney.” Then I plunged the knife right through her heart, her crazed eyes turning dull, but that curled smile plastered on her face for death. 

* * *

“I’m fine, really,” I tried to convince the growing circle around me as we made our way to the infirmary. We’d hired a doctor that broke the law in order to save a patient’s life, costing her her license. She could no longer work at hospitals, but we paid her well and she could still do what she loved. 

“You’re not. You can barely walk,” Deen was saying, his arm wrapped tight around me as we hobbled up the lavish staircase to her mansion. She did get to keep that though, and decided to run her little infirmary out of the unnecessarily big basement. Deen with his bad knee, and me clutching my ribs and stained with blood were probably quite a sight making our way up the stairs to her front door. 

“Jesus, I didn’t realize it was this bad,” I heard Mateo’s voice declare from behind us. I’d sent him to make sure that everyone else was okay, and get a report from Roman and her people about the BAU. “Let me help.”

“Good luck with that one, bud,” Deen rolled his eyes, “You know how she is about help when she’s _obviously_ the picture of health.”

“Let me,” Mateo offered.

“I’m fine you guys,” I insisted again. 

“Alright,” Deen said, shrugging his shoulders and letting go of me. I nearly collapsed without his support, and I would have if Mateo hadn’t been there. He caught me and scooped me up bridal style.

“Deen, you are the worst best friend I’ve ever had. And the meanest,” I deadpanned.

He smiled brightly, “Have you looked in the mirror lately?”

“I will hit you.”

“I look forward to that, in, what?” he gestured to my broken and bloodied state, pretending to look at a watch, “Three months?”

I basically growled at him, to which Mateo chuckled and said, “Down girl.”

I turned my fiery eyes on him, which only made him laugh harder. “Could you have said that any louder?”

Mateo opened his mouth and started yelling, “DOW-” before I slapped my hand over his mouth. He kissed it, which made me smile, and I moved it to his cheek which he leaned into. I curled a little farther into his strong chest as he turned sideways so we could pass through the door. Niko was waiting for us at the top of the stairs to the basement, and followed us down. Mateo sat me gingerly on one of the beds, and stood back as the doctor, Doctor Madden, started getting to work on me. 

She started with the gash on my forehead and worked her way down. She patched up the small cut on my neck, then had to pull my shirt off me to see what was happening on my side. She informed me that I had reopened the stitches from when I got shot, and most likely refractured the ribs that had been healing, or potentially broke them in new areas. She examined the rest of me, and besides a sprained ankle (I don’t know when or _how_ that happened), everything else was just a bruise. 

Long story short, I’d be hella-sore in the morning. Pure adrenaline was making up for it now.

I thanked Doctor Madden, and so did the twins as they entered the room. “Can you make sure that Deen-” I started.

“Deen has everything under control?” Deen finished my question as he waltzed into the room. “Yeah, he does.”

“Thank you,” I croaked. The exhaustion, physical and mental, was hitting me all at once. 

“How long are you supposed to be like this?” he asked.

“She said over six months,” I said, raising my eyebrows, “But I’m hoping we can cut that at least in half. We don’t exactly have that kind of time.”

Mateo spoke up, “But hey, we can call this one a success. Mostly.”

I laughed, knowing the ‘mostly’ was directed at my four injuries. “Mostly,” I repeated. 

“The Lions have done it again,” Mateo smiled.

“You’re still trying to make that work?” Niko and I asked at the same time.

“Yes. It’s perfect. A _lion_ th. We can’t just keep calling it ‘the ring,’” Mateo mocked.

“We have for nearly ten years,” I pointed out.

“ _And_ , it’s more inconspicuous to say in public,” Niko acknowledged. I nodded and pointed at him to show my agreement. 

“Lame. The Lions,” Mateo insisted. 

“Alright,” I said, rubbing my eyes, “I’ll think about it?”

“You won’t, but I appreciate you saying that,” Mateo smiled. The light in his eyes seemed to warm me from the inside out, and I bet someone could scientifically prove that his smiles healed. I felt just a little bit better whenever he did. 

“I guess we’ll leave you to it,” Deen said, ushering Mateo and himself out of the room. 

Niko started to follow, but hung back. “You know, Mateo-”

“I know,” I cut him off, “It was unfair of me to lean on him like I did and let us get that close before leaving. Once on my own accord and the other not.”

“True, but that wasn’t what I was going to say.” I looked up at him confused, but he answered my unasked question with, “I was going to say that Mateo isn’t the only one that wants you to stay. Sure, he’s got different and, one might even say _bigger_ , reasons, and you know, he does still have feelings for you, but there are plenty of others of us that are hoping we can do enough to convince you to stay.” I opened my mouth to respond, but he kept talking. “You don’t have to answer right now, just promise me you’ll think about it.”

“Of course,” I promised, “And thanks again for, well, everything.” I gave him a quick, tight-lipped smile. He nodded at me, and then left, following his brother and friend out the door.

* * *

I was doing everything I could to recover as quickly as possible. Doctor Madden said that if I continued on this course, I might be ready to ‘lightly return’ after four to four and a half months. 

I didn’t even make it halfway there.

I was falling asleep in the infirmary bed like I had every night for the past two months. I still had people tracking the BAU, and Archer who I was told was properly freaked out, telling me that they were all safe and that the only creepy people around were them. That brought me some sort of relief, yet I was still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Nothing Xena says can be taken too seriously. She religiously lied, and constantly tried to freak people out. Especially us, me in particular. But there was just something about her eyes and the way she told me about DeLeon that compelled me to believe her.

And I guess we all should have taken her more seriously.

Because that night after two months of recovery, I woke up to the sounds of scraping on the ceiling. It sounded like someone was rearranging the furniture. It wasn’t my place to judge what Doctor Madden did at 1am, but this had never happened before. I tried to ignore it. I mean, it wasn’t too loud and it stopped after a minute or two. Then I got this gut wrenching feeling. Call it instinct, call it the wind, but something was wrong and I knew it. I opened my eyes and made a move to get out of bed, but it was too late. I could smell the chloroform all around me. 

I tried to get out of bed, but all my injuries were delicate and I couldn’t move very fast. I tried to identify where the smell was coming from so I could get rid of it. It was a small rag trapped in the railing on the underside of the bed, near my pillow. Once I found it, the only thing I remember is a panicked, peaceful darkness.


End file.
